[chimpinee]

And surely Frodo's failure implies also that the eagle plan could not have worked: it did not include Gollum

[tjr]

I imagine that if the Precious had been aloft on board an eagle, then somehow Gollum would have made his way up there!

[ImprovedSilence]

Right, but this was never discussed in the book, so as to remove the eagle plot hole. But one could see it that way. Perhaps galdolf never brought it up, because he only had a gut feeling gollum would have a role to play, and that frodo wouldn't be able to rid himself of the ring anyway...?

[pm90]

I don't think galdolf could predict the exact role Gollum would play. It was just a hunch on his part (or at least the book makes it look like it is)

[saraid216]

Gandalf's hunch was more of a faith-in-all-people kind of thing, IMO. That it turned out he was right twice (Gollum guided them into Mordor and was instrumental in destroying the Ring) really doesn't count that much in my opinion.

[Deestan]

This point is addressed in the article.